By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Director-General of the National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, yesterday raised the alarm over threats to her life and the staff of the agency.
She called on the authorities to protect the operatives, who navigate many hazards daily while carrying out their assigned responsibilities.
The NAFDAC DG also prescribed the death penalty for counterfeit and illicit drug peddlers in the country.
This came as the agency, in its ongoing crackdown on illicit drug trade in the country, said it seized drugs worth over N1trn.
Adeyeye disclosed the above while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
She said that the recent onslaught aimed at ridding the country of fake and substandard drugs has resulted in the seizure of 87 truckloads of banned, expired, and substandard medical products, including USAID and UNFPA-donated antiretroviral drugs, male and female condoms.
Recall that drug cartels haunted Prof Dora Akunyili due to her relentless efforts to combat counterfeit drugs in Nigeria during her tenure as the Director-General of NAFDAC from 2001 to 2009.
Her motivation stemmed from the death of her sister, who died after receiving fake insulin. Akunyili’s campaigns led to the closure of open-air medicine markets and the confiscation of large quantities of counterfeit drugs, which earned her numerous threats and an assassination attempt in 2003.
Her actions significantly disrupted the operations of drug cartels, making her a target for retaliation.
While narrating the challenges the agency is facing, the NAFDAC DG said, “I told you about the attempted murder about six months ago. One of our staff in Kano’s child was kidnapped because the father was doing what he was supposed to do. Fortunately, the child escaped.
“I have two policemen living in my house 24/7 in Abuja and Lagos. I don’t have a life. I cannot go anywhere without police, and to me, that is not my way of living. But I don’t have a choice because we’ve got to save our country. Nonetheless, I also use common sense.”
*Discloses seizure of over N1trn worth of expired drugs
Recall that the agency has, in the past days, embarked on a sweeping enforcement operation across the country’s three major open drug markets of Onitsha, Aba, and Lagos.
Adeyeye described the large-scale operation as the biggest in NAFDAC’s history.
The NAFDAC DG said the seizure’s value is at least N1trn and could be much higher after assessment.
The operation was executed in Ariaria and Eziukwu Markets in Aba, Abia State Bridge Head Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, and Idumota Drug Market in Lagos State.
She said it was part of NAFDAC’s National Action Plan (NAP 2.0) 2023-2027, which aims to eliminate counterfeit medicines, improve regulatory compliance, and safeguard public health.
*Agency engages 1,100 security operatives to raid warehouses
Adeyeye revealed that the exercise commenced on February 9, 2025, and involved 1,100 security operatives, including military personnel, police, and Department of State Services, DSS, agents.
She said the security forces cordoned off the markets to prevent traders from concealing or smuggling illegal products.
According to her, the operation uncovered shocking violations of drug storage and distribution regulations, including diverted donated medical supplies, large quantities of USAID and UNFPA-donated antiretroviral drugs and condoms meant to support Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS response were found expired, and repackaged for sale.
She said these life-saving medications were either improperly stored or deliberately resold for profit, undermining global efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
She further said that significant volumes of Tramadol, Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), Nitrazepam, and Diazepam, drugs linked to rising drug abuse, crime, and insecurity, were seized.
The Director General said the sheer volume of these narcotics was deemed sufficient to destabilize national security.
Besides, she said a large quantity of Tafradol, recently banned in India after a BBC undercover investigation exposed its illicit export to Africa, was discovered in Onitsha, adding that the drug, unapproved anywhere in the world, has been widely abused in Nigeria.
Adeyeye noted that vaccines, prescription medicines, and thermolabile drugs (requiring cold storage) were found stacked in toilets, staircases, and rooftops at dangerously high temperatures.
Similarly, Oxytocin injections and other essential medicines were stored under extreme heat, rendering them ineffective and potentially harmful.
Some warehouses contained pharmaceuticals in rooms without windows, where temperatures could reach 40°C, accelerating chemical degradation.
On fake, expired, and unregistered drugs, she disclosed that banned and expired drugs were hidden in plumbing and wood plank sections of Onitsha’s Bridge Head Market, far from the authorities’ usual focus.
In contrast, unregistered and falsified products were found in over 7,000 shops screened during the operation.
The Director-General announced that 40 arrests have been made so far, with suspects facing prosecution.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, coordinated security forces for the operation and ensured strict compliance.
She also said a database of the offending shops and their owners has been compiled for further legal action.
According to her, the seized drugs will be publicly destroyed in the three cities after the exercise.
She spoke of plans by NAFDAC and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) to relocate all open drug markets within the next year to six Coordinated Wholesale Centres (CWCs), one per geopolitical zone.
NAFDAC is also seeking harsher penalties, calling on the National Assembly to amend the NAFDAC Act and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act to impose life imprisonment or even the death penalty for convicted counterfeit drug dealers.
“With the signing into law the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) for forfeiture of assets, the assets recovered from suspects will be treated as proceeds of crime after their conviction by the courts.
“We use this opportunity to call on the National Assembly to expedite the amendment of NAFDAC ACT NI LFN and Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods C34 ACT to include life sentence and death penalty in the penalties for crimes committed under these Acts,” Adeyeye stated.
The Director-General said they sealed drug markets and that they may be reopened in about a week.
“This exercise is purely an enforcement operation to protect public health and rid our country of Falsified and Substandard Medical Products,” she affirmed.
